Sonic Riders Ex
by Cloudmeister
Summary: Takes place a year after the events of Sonic Riders. The Grand Prix returns, and everyone is participating again! But could there be someone in the whole that could be a danger? We'll soon find out..


Disclaimer: I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog. The only characters I 'do' own are Miles, Kat, and Ren. And if Twilight City doesn't exist in any games, then I own that too. XD

ALSO, realize some backstory about Miles, Kat, and Ren, and their little talk about themselves near the end of the story will be explained. The bit I can say right now though, so it makes sense, is the fact that they go from world to world, keeping that particular place safe. Similar to Kingdom Hearts, but no keybladers or disney/toony characters like Goofy or anything; which is the difference between this and New Ages, my other story. So for now, enjoy!

**Chapter 1: Excitement**

Early-birds rising. and the smell of breakfast in the air; the sun slowly rolling over the bulky mountaintops and signaling the start of yet another day. It wasn't just the start of ANY day though, oh no; it wasn't about the smell of bacon and eggs, nor was it about going out to fight some maniacal 'evil genius' like Eggman. Today is the start of an event so spectacular, its surprising that the whole town isn't jumping up and quivering with excitement. Sure, the news might not have gotten out to them yet, but still.. There's 'ways' of hearing about THIS particular activity.

"SONNNNNNNICCCC!!"

Yup.. Plenty of ways.. Such as hearing about it on T.V.

"Tails! What's going on?" Exclaimed a jumpy Sonic the Hedgehog. The blue wonder was over at his friend's Tails' house, and the fox had saw something incredible on television. Heck, it HAD to be fantastic if he's going to scream for Sonic out loud.. when they were both in the same room!

Tails was jumping up and down, obviously excited by whatever he saw. He was pointing at the blaring T.V. at the same time.. there was something on that Sonic 'had' to watch. The hedgehog stared at his 'crazy' lil' friend for a bit, all in the while thinking.. _'He doesn't normally act like that. Weird..'_

But glancing over at what was on the screen, his eyes went from surprised.. to even more surprised; all in the while having a glimmer of excitement within them. That was pretty darn quick..

What was on television was this..

---

_The news report on television was about a very important, exciting, and utterly pleasing event; at least to those who like invigorating, sweat-pounding sports. It seemed that it was taking place in the plaza of Metal City, as the buildings were very recognizable. In the very center of the plaza was a brown, female sparrow; who people could tell was the reporter due to the fact she was holding a microphone. Kind of a 'duh' moment there._

_She's standing next to three very recognizable figures, each with a confident, yet somewhat cocky smile. They each were holding a board in their hands, also known as an Extreme Gear. The fact was, these three were very well-known and renowned Extreme Gear Riders, who carried along with them.. a name. What IS the name? Well.. surprisingly enough, at least to a certain few, they were the Babylon Rogues!_

_"Jet.. Wave.. and Storm.. also known as the infamous team; the Babylon Rogues. You three are the ones being most rooted for in winning the second EX World Grand Prix. Tell me and the viewers, are you nervous or worried at all about the competition this year? After-all, as stated in an earlier report with the new sponsor of this event, whose name I can't reveal, its going to be much harder, longer, AND bigger; at least, in the way of how many competitors there's going to be. Are you worried 'at all'?" She asked them, specifically Jet. After-all, he WAS the leader._

_Interestingly enough though, the hawk wasn't feigning or faking to fall asleep from the length of her sentence or question. Quite normally, his rude sense of humor and such in this sort of situation, would make him pretend as if he had no interest in it; or if he just found her talking boring. However, he was simply smirking, knowing his pride and dignity was on the line. After-all, it WAS television he was on. Taking the microphone from the reporter's hand -while secretly looking her over-, he began to speak._

_"WELLL, there 'might' be a competitor or two out there that 'could' stand a chance in placing SECOND against me and my team, but otherwise, I doubt it. I think our team is simply the best!" He boasted, his ego flaring. The crowd started to cheer for him, obviously liking his attitude and confidence. Wave sighed a bit, thinking differently. _

_'Man, he's acting a bit TOO confident. Not that I don't' agree with him, but we're on television for Pete's sakes!' She thought while trying to maintain a smile for the T.V cameras. While he was 'basking in his own glory', Wave silently and smoothly took the microphone away from him, starting to talk herself. She was afraid he would embarrass the team somehow, or at least ruin their reputation with his overconfident demeanor. Blinking a bit, Jet was surprised to see no mic in his hand, then turned his head towards Wave when he started to hear her speak._

_"What our.. 'precious' leader means, is.. We got a pretty good edge over the competition, having top-of-the-line Extreme Gear; not to mention the fact that we've been training for this event for who knows HOW long.." She began, starting to find it a bit difficult in maintaining well.. a calm and not-cocky attitude. Well, she was doing a better job at it then Jet, surprisingly enough.._

---

Tails was finally sitting still now from his excitement, though the look on his face showed that there was a reason to it. And the fact that well.. his excitement wasn't really gone. He was practically gazing at the television while Wave was talking, and didn't even notice himself spacing out. All in his mind, he was thinking..

_'Man, even though she called me 'shorty' a lot, she had the greatest voice.. and still does!'_

Sonic, noticing his friend's gazing, chuckled a bit as he snapped his fingers in front of his face. Coming back to reality, Tails blinked as he looked up at the hedgehog. He was a bit surprised though, to see him smirking.

"Man, a year's passed, she barely considered you a friend, and yet your staring and gawking at her as if she was a goddess. I mean come on man, show some dignity! Didn't she cause a lot of trouble during the last Grand Prix?" Sonic teased, looking down at the fox.

Tails blinked, his face burning red with embarrassment a bit. He hadn't realize that he was.. 'gazing' and 'gawking' at Wave while she was on T.V, and it certainly didn't help that Sonic was teasing him about 'staring at her as if she was a goddess'. Looking at his friend.. "Q-Quiet Sonic, I don't 'like' like her. I just think she's a great Extreme Gear Mechanic, that's all." He mumbled, blushing a bit more. Sonic rolled his eyes a bit and patted Tails on the back, giving a bit of a childish grin as he responded.

"SURRRRE…"

"Oh come on, give me a break!" Tails exclaimed, looking back at the T.V with the hedgehog. To Sonic's earlier statement, it was kind of true.. she 'did' set up some sort of explosive underneath the hedgehog's board, and detonated it so it ruined Sonic's chances of winning the first of two races against Jet the Hawk. But the fox didn't show any hard feelings at the end; both having apparently resolved their differences. They even worked together to beat the Babylonian Guardian, along with Sonic, Knuckles, Amy, Jet, and Storm. So yeah, Tails couldn't stay mad at anybody for long, he practically had a heart of gold!

"I'm just surprised they're doing an interview so early. Don't normal people sleep during this time?" Sonic just had to comment. Tails didn't answer though, he simply shrugged and glued his eyes on the monitor.

As the report went on, Storm snatched the microphone from Wave, her standing on her tip-tops to try and reach for it. He was snickering, and holding it JUST out of her reach. Well 'that' was going to boost his reputation.. sarcasm..

---

_"Stop confusing everybody with your big words and long sentences! The boss is right, there isn't any competition this year, and that's final!" He cackled, gently tossing the mic to Jet; who in turn gave a triumphant grin and said._

_"Yup, Wave has a point and all, but there isn't any reason to worry. Us Babylon Rogues are going to crush the competition this year for YOU! Our loyal audience!"_

_Wave rolled her eyes as both Jet AND Storm started to wave their hands in the air, obviously enjoying the cheering from the roaring audience. In her mind, she was probably wanting to cheer herself, but she didn't want to act all perky and overconfident like her two knuckleheaded teammates. At least, she didn't want to until she started kicking some ass on the racing courses. But until then, she was only giving a simple smile, while Jet and Storm continued to wave their hands and give big grins to the crowd._

_The sparrow reporter walked up in front of the trio, knowing this report was now over. She gave a big smile as she finished the whole thing up. "Well that's about it for THESE interviews! We hope that everybody who wants to join the EX World Grand Prix will register! Sign-ups are in Twilight City, see you there!"_

_And funnily enough, Jet had slid to the side of the female, a mischievous grin plastered on his face.. "And maybe I'll see 'you' tonight?" He questioned. Fortunately nobody was able to hear him say this, since the cameras were now off, and the cheering crowd was at this point, too loud. The sparrow smirked a bit, and leaned so she could whisper into Jet's ear, which she said.._

_"Have a boyfriend, sorrrrry."_

---

With the interviews and report over, there was barely reason to watch T.V at that point. So Sonic grabbed the remote, and turned the television off. Both his, and Tail's mind were on one thing now, and one thing only. No one could blame them, the Grand Prix and riding on Extreme Gear was awesome! And they each have other reasons as to why they want to join too. Unable to hold in his excitement..

"Tails, we 'have' to register for the Grand Prix!" Sonic exclaimed, grabbing his friend by the shoulders, and literally shaking him back and forth in excitement. The hedgehog was more than eager into seeing Jet again, while Tails had some interests in meeting Wave.. okay, a lot of interest. He was hoping she might be interested in sharing some tips on revving up their Extreme Gear, and in return, he do the same. Of course, if she hadn't changed in the last year, she would probably just insult him or something.

Before Tails could really think about what would happen, his thoughts were interrupted by a sudden knock on the door, following with it dropping to the ground. _THUMP._

The fox's eyes widened with horror at his fallen door, and all he could hear while staring down upon the piece of wood was an 'oops'. That voice.. Tails recognized it instantly.

"Knuckles! You knocked down my door! Again!" The little fox cried out, not even looking up at the Echidna as he continued to stare at his fallen door. Knuckles, also known as well.. Knuckles The Echidna, seemed to have a bit of a sorry and happy look all at once, which quite frankly, didn't work very well together. Especially not with him, since he usually tended to frown a lot.

"Err.. Sorry." He apologized, seeming a bit guilty as he stepped inside. Deciding to fix what he had knocked down, well.. to the best of his abilities; Knuckles picked up the door, then shoved it into place, a few crackling sounds being heard all around. Tails paled up a bit, thinking something bad was going to happen.. but it didn't. He let out a sigh of relief as he turned his attention to Knuckles.

_'Well, at least he apologized. Though I know that door's going to fall down ANY minute.'_ Tails was thinking, watching as the Echidna made his way over to him and Sonic. Knuckle's face converted once more from the guilty look he had a minute ago, to a more happy and excited look. Very.. 'very' weird, indefinitely so; his look that is.

"So, have you guys seen the news?" He asked. Well.. talk about irony. Sonic grinned brightly at the question, responding swiftly.

"Yeah, we have! In fact, me and Tails here were planning on registering! And you coming here well.. Made the trip to you a lot shorter!" The hedgehog exclaimed, walking over and patting Knuckles on the back. He seemed to be a bit annoyed at first, being patted and all, but got over it surprisingly quickly. He glanced at Sonic, and then at Tails. He already knew what was coming.. They wanted him to tag along and join the Grand Prix with them. Now he 'was' excited and all about WATCHING the event, but not taking part in it..

"Oh no, no way, I'm NOT going!" He exclaimed, starting to turn away. The last time he participated, he left the Master Emerald guard less for TOO long, which is the reason why he apparently won't go. Sonic though, astonished at his friend's response, quickly made his way in front of him, trying to persuade the Echidna into coming and racing. After-all, the hedgehog 'did' know that Knuckles had a blast last time, racing and taking part in an invigorating sport such as Extreme Gear Racing.

"Come on Knuckles, it'll be fun!"

"No!" Responded the now agitated Echidna, beginning to extend an arm back to sock Sonic in the face, and then some. But then, Tail's voice and words came and rang through his ears.. At least the words did; just now.

"You 'do' know Storm is going to be there."

Silence.. for at least the first couple of minutes. Knuckles was completely aware that Storm was going to be participating in the World Grand Prix, but the Echidna never really thought about his rival as a well.. rival, till now. When he thought about it, Storm 'did' give Knuckles quite a fight on and off the race track, and they 'were' kind of similar in a few ways.. the easiest comparison probably being their intellect.

There was still one thing bothering him though. If he was going to participate in the Grand Prix, he would need somebody to guard the Master Emerald while he was away. "I'll only do it if you find somebody to guard the Master Emerald." He said plainly. They didn't need to be an Echidna, they just had to have sharp eyes, and stay need the blasted thing at all times.

Sonic and Tails glanced at each other, then nodded their heads at once, knowing a few who could probably watch over it. "Maybe Vector and his crew could handle watching it." The hedgehog suggested. At first he seemed hesitant in letting the three look over something as precious as the Master Emerald. But Knuckles seemed to be open to the idea, and slowly nodded his head..

"Alright then, you convinced me. I'll take part in the Grand Prix too." He said, looking at them with a slight smile. The more he thought about riding Extreme Gear, the more he thought his decision was a good idea. He 'did' have a fun time riding last year; and he did seem a bit interested in meeting Storm again. However, in a much more stern tone, he pointed a gloved finger at Sonic and Tails..

"But if anything happens to the Emerald while we're away, its off with BOTH of your heads!" He threatened, though Sonic and Tails didn't really seem so phased. The hedgehog was pretty much well.. just picking his ear, and Tails seemed to fake listening to the Echidna. Knuckle's face seemed to redden a bit with anger and frustration, and it looked like he was going to jump the two. But before he could..

"You worry too much knucklehead. Why don't you just relax and go with the flow." Responded a smirking Sonic, him taking his finger out of his one ear, and starting to pick the other one. Tails forced himself not to laugh by biting his lower lip; though he WAS mentally giggling to himself.

_'Hah, Sonic called Knuckles a knucklehead!'_ He thought, laughing within the confines of his mind.

Of course, that was about it for Knuckles AND his temper. He literally yelled out in anger as he started to chase Sonic around Tail's house, which caused the little fox to panic and quickly stand up on his feet. He really didn't want to stick in the house any longer then necessary.. after-all, the place might cave in! .. Well probably not, but still, Tails felt.. well, 'not comfy' at that very moment.

"Well uh.. I'll be waiting outside!" He squeaked, before quickly making his way out the door.. which wasn't very hard, because when Tails came near the thing, it toppled over. Not on top of the poor little fox of course, but in the other direction. He didn't seem to care much though, he was only happy that he was outside. Things were going to get chaotic, and he would have to listen to Sonic and Knuckles making a wreck within his home. Quick frankly, Tails was praying that the damage levels of his house would be eh.. between 'minimal', and 'Oh My God Maximum' status.

..The fox let out a deep sigh, pinching himself between the eyes as realization hit him. _'Who am 'I' kidding, I better get ready to clean up BIG time once we get back.'_ He was thinking, watching the Hedgehog and Echidna rush out of the house and taking the chase to the grass. Sonic had a look of humor on his face, while Knuckles obviously carried a look of anger.

All Tails could do was watch, and think.. _'Well.. this IS good entertainment..'_

---

"Man, that was some interview." Mumbled a slightly exhausted Storm, placing his hands behind his head. After the bit about the interview, and the announcement of the EX World Grand Prix Registrations, the Rogues were more then a bit tired. Afterwards they had went to their airship to fix up and make their Extreme Gear shine, then decided to go on a little.. well, stroll. The three were walking down one of the many sidewalks in Twilight City, lightly chatting, but mostly about non-important things. Well.. not exactly 'not important', a better way to phrase it was that they were talking about the usual stuff, such as Extreme Gear, Competition, that sort of thing. Nothing they haven't talked about before.

Storm decided to speak up though, and break off their little talk on gear mechanics. At least Jet PROBABLY wouldn't fall asleep while walking now. "This is some place huh?" The Albatross mumbled, looking around. Despite it being midday, several hours having passed since their morning interview, the city was still shimmering brightly. Several towering buildings all around, sunlight bouncing off the windows and making them glimmer.. it 'was' quite a sight.

Even Jet had to nod a bit at his friend's comment, which surprised both him AND Wave. Since when did their.. Eh.. 'hawk leader' ever care about the sights? Guess Jet was a more deeper person than they thought.

The three continued to walk silently, unable now to strike up a conversation. Jet didn't really feel like speaking out, and Storm was out of things to say; so it was down to one person. Wave thought about her words carefully, and after a few seconds, she decided to speak up.

"Well, registrations are going to be crazy tomorrow; for the Grand Prix and all. We better get there early.." She told them, stretching a bit as they turned a corner. "AND scope out the competition." She added.

Jet frowned a bit though at Wave's last sentence. Didn't he and Storm establish the fact on T.V that there was NO competition for them whatsoever? Then again, she had a bit of a point. It wouldn't hurt to stick around after the three registered, so they could see who else was participating. And.. it would be the perfect opportunity to see whether or not a certain trio would join. A certain three that the Babylon Rogues were dying to go up against on the racing course again.

"The red mutt and his pals.. do you think they'll join?" Storm pondered out loud, scratching his cheek and grinning a bit at the thought of beating Knuckles once and for all. Jet and Wave also wondered whether or not their adversaries would join the Grand Prix. They were hoping so, that's for sure. Wave was more than psyched at the opportunity of racing 'shorty' again, not to mention putting their Extreme Gear mechanic skills to their limits. Jet has a similar eagerness; though he mainly wants to race Sonic to see which one of them IS the fastest.

Unsure of what to say, the hawk simply shrugged his shoulders. Who knows, maybe the three won't even show up. Maybe something will come up, like fighting Eggman, or what not. Or they might not even be interested in Extreme Gear anymore.

"Who knows Storm. Who knows.." Jet mumbled, crossing his arms over his chest and walking a bit faster. To be honest, he really 'was' hoping Sonic would show up. The hawk still wanted to show him up on the race course, that's for sure, but.. despite the whole situation that occurred last year, and the fact that they don't get along sometimes, he was actually looking a bit forward into seeing the hedgehog again.

Unluckily for him though, he was so much in thought, he didn't bother to look where he was going. Jet and the gang were nearing a corner, a corner which a female hawk was coming around at the same time. To put it bluntly, she and Jet collided into each other with a bang.

"Ack!" Jet grunted, falling backwards right onto his rear-end. The girl also fell back, wincing a bit as she had landed straight on her back. How funny was that, the old 'walking around a corner only to run into somebody' bit. Of course, the hawk really didn't find it all that funny.

"What the heck?? Watch where you're--" He started to yell as he scrambled back onto his feet, getting ready to really unleash his temper on whoever he ran into. But he was more then surprised at the sight. No he didn't know her, but the fact that she was well.. a 'she', kind of changed things.

She was his species all right, except blue-feathered, not green and emerald like him.. She has the same kind of beak as his, though its a bit smaller, kind of non-surprising with her being a female and all. The spikes of hair that stick out from the back of her head are shorter too, them also being blue and the tips being an almost sapphire color. She has deep, dark-blue eyes, which almost seemed to shimmer a bit in the sunlight. A bit appealing to Jet, I might add. She's wearing a white top and jeans, similar to Wave, although the pants don't have flames on them as hers does. Instead of flames, there are stars the color of sapphire surrounding the pant legs. Last but not least, she's wearing boots similar to Jet's, although they're light blue and white, not red and black; AND she's wearing a cobalt necklace, it being the same color as Jet's eyes. Oh, and did I mention she has several short feathers the same color as her serving as her tail? The tips also being a nice sapphire color. Yes, she was quite the looker indeed.

Heck, Jet was even driven speechless at the sight of her, quite an accomplishment on her part. Quickly he made his way over to the female, offering a hand out to help her up. With a soft smile she accepted it, getting back up on her feet without a problem. Looking at her more closely, Jet noticed that she was only a bit taller then him, by maybe an inch or so. It wasn't a bad thing, it just signaled that she was a bit older probably, that's all.

For a minute there though, Jet almost forgot to ask the most important thing, something he SHOULD say after this sort of accident. "Um, sorry about that, I wasn't looking. You okay?" He asked her with a surprisingly kind and soft voice. Around the same time Wave and Storm scuttled over back to Jet's sides, the female smiled and nodded her head.

"Yeah I'm fine, thanks for asking.." She said, smiling softly and glancing from Jet, to Wave, to Storm, and back to Jet again. Curious a bit, she asked.. "Who are you three?"

More or less, the Rogues were surprised. She didn't know who they were? She may not have seen the morning interview and news about the Grand Prix, but their reputation IS renowned.. to a degree. Despite all that though, Jet was more then delighted to answer. Before he did though, Storm had mumbled into Wave's ear with a slight smirk on his face.

"I think he likes her." He said softly, kind of a 'duh' situation there. Wave even had to roll her eyes a bit and chuckle at the Albatross's, well, slowness at the situation.

"Duh Storm, its kind of obvious." She responded back, around the time Jet started introducing them, and himself.

"Well 'I'M' Jet. Also known as the Legendary Wind Master." He started, unable to help but brag about his nickname. Wave rolled her eyes and smacked her face gently with a hand, mumbling an 'ugh' through her open palm. He was doing it again, being hard-headed and arrogant. But there was no way to stop him now. Seeing a smile on the female's face, Jet began to smile more himself as he continued.

"These two here," He gestured to each of his comrades when he said their name. ".. are Wave, and Storm." As Jet finished introducing them, they couldn't help but snicker a bit. Wave thought it would be such a 'tease-him' moment, while the Albatross simply wanted to go 'just go for her already!'. But they held in their comments and teases, and simply nodded their heads at the female. She nodded her head back, then glanced at Jet again, smiling a bit in interest at what he had said earlier.

_'Legendary Wind Master? Quite an interesting nickname he has. I wonder if he's actually known by that, or he's just making it up to impress me.'_ She wondered, letting her eyes roam across him a bit in interest. She was more then surprised at the fact that they looked.. similar, in some ways.

Although simple enough to say, she wasn't being very discreet in doing so; Jet easily seeing her 'checking him out', who then started to grin a bit.

"As much as I don't want to interrupt you and your little 'check-me-out' session, can I ask your name?" He asked her, causing the female to blush in the process. Wave almost burst out in laughter at this.

"Oh, um, sorry.. my name's Kat." She said, smiling, her blush quickly fading as fast as it appeared. However, it quickly came back as Jet took her hand in his, him slowly opening his mouth to talk.

"That's a nice name Kat. All the more reason to--" He started, but was quickly shushed by Wave's hand clasping over his mouth, also using it to pull him back. Having known what kind of approach Jet was about to take, she had to stop him. After-all, if he's pumped into impressing this girl, he might not be as lazy with his leadership skills. And him being less lazy, equaled a much more happy Wave.

"All the err.. more reason to get back to the airship we stay in and fix up our Extreme Gear! Yeah, I'm sure you'd love to watch Jet race sometime." She said, complimenting herself in her mind for the great comeback. Kat looked at her oddly, then at Jet, who seemed to be struggling in getting Wave's hand off his mouth. Then with a somewhat girly smile, she walked up to the hawk and took his hand in hers, taking out a pen she happened to have and started to write something on his glove. It was.. 7 numbers, and when looking more closely, a phone number. Jet and Wave's eyes bulged in surprise, and as Storm glanced over the hawk to see what Kat wrote, his eyes widened as well.

Kat couldn't help but laugh a bit at this, looking at Jet and telling him. "Give me a call sometime, and make sure to tell me when your first race is." And with that, she turned and started to walk away. Of course, just as Wave released Jet from the hold, Kat turned around again, adding something that made the hawk go.. aw.

"Just don't expect a yes if you ask me on a date. We're just friends for now." She told him sternly. Nodding sheepishly, Jet watched as she turned and walked away again, this time turning the corner and disappearing out of sight.

Completely stunned about what happened, Jet couldn't even utter a single word from his beak. Now THAT is a surprise. Wave and Storm exchanged glances, then the Albatross approached him from behind, patting him on the back and speaking with a grin.

"Wow boss, she gave you her number."

.. Definitely a moment there where you could just pet Storm on the head and go 'good boy for figuring it out!'. But that would be rude, so instead, Wave simply let out a sigh, and looked at Jet seriously, speaking out her thoughts.

"You know Jet, if you go flirting and asking girls on dates before you get to know them, they'll NEVER go out with you."

Jet frowned at this bit of advice, and from Wave too! What did she know about that sort of thing.. Of course, who else would know but Wave herself, who started to speak again.

"And if your wondering, when we first met, you did the same thing with ME. So that's how I know."

_'What is she, psychic?!'_ Jet thought as he stared at her with disbelief. It was scary how she did that, indeed. Even Storm shivered a bit just now. Of course, it may just be because of the gusts of cold wind filling the air.

Although, now that he really, REALLY thought about it, Wave had a point. Jet had the tendency to flirt like crazy, and hit on girls just because he thought they were amazingly good-looking -although they usually are-. In truth, he usually didn't know anything about them. Their hobbies, if they had a boyfriend or something, absolutely nothing. He even started to feel a little guilty right now.

But that one girl, Kat.. she seemed to be interested in him as well. She even had given him her number. Wouldn't that leave her 'eligible' for being flirted with? Unless of course, she more-or-less did it out of pity, which then Jet would feel really bad. Guess he wouldn't know until he called her.

With a sigh, Jet looked at Wave seriously, eyes-to-eyes. "Your right.. sorry." He apologized, surprising her and Storm greatly. They rarely hear him apologize to anybody; and when he admits to people being right and him being wrong, that's a rarity too, but not as much as the apologizing bit. Then, he started to continue.. by asking both Wave and Storm a question.

"So how do you guys think I go about 'getting to know her better'?"

Storm thought about it for a bit, scratching the back of his head. He wasn't necessarily a lady's man himself. In fact, he's never had a girlfriend before. But he knew that if Jet wanted to have a chance with Kat, he should be well.. considerate and stuff of her feelings. As one of the hawk's closest friends and right-hand man, Storm wanted to see him happy. Despite the fact he wanted to tease Jet a little and be like 'just buy her stuff'.

Luckily for him, Wave had a few ideas for Jet. Kind of a surprise, really. Who knew that the one who tended to insult people a lot, and their Extreme Gear, would have romance tips. "If anything, don't be like what you are towards the other girls you've been around. All that over-excessive flirting, and without even knowing them.. if you HAVE to flirt, just say something truthful and sweet. Like 'you look really nice today', or something." She explained, doing her best to give a semisweet smile. Jet looked at her in disbelief, surprised that she was giving such suggestions to him. The disbelief was due to the fact that she was really making sense to him! He knew that he could be better about that sort of thing.. so her words definitely got to him there.

So with a nod of the head, Jet responded quite simply. "I'll do that.." And with that, he started to walk again. Now despite the fact Storm thought Wave was being really nice, he automatically smacked her on the back, not to hurt her of course, but mainly to just make her stumble forward a little.

"Ack! What the heck was that for Storm?!" She cried, looking back at him with a bit of a glare. So much for being really sweet. Storm, being used to her glares, simply looked at her right back. "Your going to make the boss too soft." He said, rushing past her to walk alongside Jet. Her face turning red purely because of frustration, Wave ran for the two to catch up, while they were starting to chat. Of course, it HAD to be more of a guy conversation..

"She was pretty hot though, right boss?"

"Heck yeah she was!"

..Well she DID say to not 'over-excessively flirt' with Kat. Wave did NOT say he couldn't talk about her with Storm, and especially in the way they were doing so now. Jet would definitely take her words to heart and put them into action the next time he runs into Kat, but he couldn't help but be this way. It was just who he was..

---

After her little confrontation with Jet and his friends, Kat had quickly made her way back to her own, who were sitting together on a bench. Apparently, the three had planned to meet up in this spot. How else would Kat know where to find them? As she came up to the two, they glanced up to look at her.

"Hey guys, sorry I'm late." She said, glancing from one to the other. The male had the form of Sonic the Hedgehog. If you would compare the two though, you would notice the male's slightly taller then Sonic. He was more dark gray and tan rather then blue and tan, so some would also say he bares a resemblance to Silver the Hedgehog too. He has red eyes, white gloves with sock-like cuffs, and six spiked quills coming from the top of his head, although shorter in comparison to Sonic, Shadow, AND Silver. He does however, have the two arching quills on his back that all the other hedgehogs have. He's wearing shoes similar to Sonic too, although they're more black and white, not red and white, and aren't pointed.

The female next to him was surprisingly just as tall, being light purple and having smooth feathers; along with dark brown eyes. She has a beak similar to Kat's, although it was much more smoother, quite an oddity for her being an 'eagle' and all. She's wearing an outfit extremely similar to one known as Blaze the Cat, wearing a dark purple dress that's trimmed in blue around the flaps that cover her legs and hips. She's wearing white gloves of course, although the cuffs are hidden by golden bracers that she has over them. Last but not least, she's wearing white sandals.

Knowing she had to tell them about the encounter, she started to speak.. "So Miles, Ren, I met the most interesting bunch today. Does Jet the Hawk, Wave the Swallow, and Storm the Albatross ring any bells?" She asked them, smiling to herself as she mentions Jet's name. Miles, who was obviously the male, nodded his head.

"Yeah, those three we were told would be possible targets by our enemy.. along with characters known as Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Rogue, Shadow, Amy.. How are we supposed to find these guys though, if we don't even know what they look like? I mean, we were sent here without even getting a single picture, only names and the fact that those three you mentioned were called the 'Babylon Rogues'." He told them, frowning and crossing his arms over his chest. Ren, the eagle, seemed to giggle a bit at the hedgehog's whining, not finding this as stressful as he did.

"Relax, we'll know them when we see them. Though some of the names DO sound kind of 'mysterious'. Shadow, Storm.. I would love to meet them." She responded in a girly way, giggling a bit more. She was kind of a flirt in her own way, and always had an interest in guys, despite her brother's protests and agitation. Luckily though he wasn't around; he was busy carrying out missions elsewhere not on the world.

Kat shrugged a bit, then started to grin as she continued talking. "Well, I gave Jet my cell number. I figure if something comes up, or if he's attacked, he'll give a ring." She explained, stretching a little. Miles eyed her a bit -not in a perverted sense-, noticing a slight flaw to what she did.

"You know, he doesn't realize that we're not who he thinks we are. We'd probably be considered as normal residents here, but we're human, you know? And Jet doesn't realize that he and his friends might be in danger." He told her. At the same time, he was thinking, or more-or-less hoping to himself, that nothing will happen like before. Kat and Ren were getting so comfy in the last world they went to, that they wanted to stay really badly. Miles literally had to drag them by the shoulders, getting hit along the way as he explained that if they stayed, they would stay for good. He honestly wished that they would think about those big decisions more carefully. I mean, what's stopped them from thinking unlike other situations?

Kat's response to what he just said though, kind of made him go 'urgh' and smack his face. "Well considering what I know about Jet so far, he's bound to call me soon. When he does, I'll tell him the truth.. probably over a 'not' date." Boy, Miles probably saw that coming. Ren couldn't help but grin big at this, jumping up and nudging Kat, obviously interested in what would develop between her and the other hawk.

"Do you like him? Huh?" She asked, eager to know. Laughing a bit, Kat said..

"A little. But I don't even know him that well yet, other then the fact he's like Miles."

Hearing his name, Miles' head shot up, an eyebrow lifting a bit in curiosity. "Uh.. and exactly HOW is this Jet like me?" He asked. It was around the time the hedgehog finished the question though, that Kat came right up in front of him, and poked him on the forehead.

"Well for one thing, both of you seem to be arrogant quite some times." She told him, safely assuming Jet was like that as well. Boy could she haven't have been anymore right. Eye twitching a bit, Miles let out a 'humph' and looked away, closing his eyes and face obviously turning a little red. Kat and Ren glanced at each other, and laughed. What better way to amuse yourself then pick on one of your friends..

---

"Man, I can't believe we got all worked up, and the registrations weren't even going to start until tomorrow!" Complained a slightly sweating Sonic, him and his friends sitting together in Tails' now ruined home. The fox, trying to ignore it since he knew it was prone to being damaged again if Sonic and Knuckles got into another chase, was simply looking down at the ground as he responded.

"Guess it slipped our minds..?" In all truth, Tails 'did' know that registrations weren't going to happen until tomorrow. But there was no way he could talk to Sonic or Knuckles when they got into a spat.

"Well, you might as well check out the boards to make sure they're in tip-top shape. Big day tomorrow." Knuckles mumbled, resting back in the chair he was sitting in. Tails rolled his eyes, then nodded his head. The Echidna DID have a bit of a point.. but before tinkering and getting the gear set up, he would have to FIND them first in the mess his house was in. Interestingly enough though, Sonic finally registered the situation in his head, and smiled as he sat up.

"It'll take ya forever to find the gear in THIS mess Tails. Might as well clean up a bit!" He chirped, starting to run at the fast speed everyone knows him for. Tails and Knuckles watched in surprise as the hedgehog cleaned the house up and put stuff back in their original positions; well.. as close to it as Sonic could remember. Eventually he stopped running, happy with his handiwork, though in his mind he was thinking that that was a bit too much work for him. Tails however, was really happy; eyes gleaming a bit as he started to fly around the house, looking for their Extreme Gear. All in the while he yelled.

"Thanks Sonic!"

The hedgehog laughed a bit, scratching the back of his head as he sat down on the upright couch and turned on the television again. All in the while he mumbled. "No problem."


End file.
